Amazing Moose Sighting!

The Traveling Hillbilly lucked out and on the first morning exploring Rocky Mountain National Park, had the best moose sighting! It was such a great angle and the zoom lens on my simple camera allowed for some great shots.



It’s surprising that as big as they are, they are still quite difficult to spot. They like to hide deep in the bushes and seem to be able to blend right into nature.

 

Peek a boo

We heard him first. You could hear the antlers brushing against the trees. The sound of branches breaking was right out of a movie. Sounded just like a dinosaur stomping through the woods. Then the trees started to sway. The antlers emerged first, then we get a glimpse of the snout as he munched on the trees.

As he continued to dine, more and more of him emerged from the trees, until we finally got to see all of him. What a huge and beautiful creature. While I think Elk are quite majestic, that is not a word I would use for a moose. They are remarkable creatures but seem more like a chocolate lab; big, gangly and kind of goofy. Don’t get me wrong, they are still wild animals and deserve our respect and fear. But being able to watch them from afar is a sight to see.

Nom, nom

Look at my green teeth

Just snackin'

The Traveling Hillbilly could spend hours watching and admiring these great creatures. This particular one, we got to watch for at least an hour before he went back deep into woods. I guess he got tired of the paparazzi and wanted to finish his meal in peace.

Can't a moose dine in peace?!

Estes Park, First Impressions

As many of you know, the Traveling Hillbilly loves Colorado. Around every turn is a sight more scenic than the last.  After spending some time in Grand Lake, CO back in May, I decided to head back to Rocky Mountain National Park on the Estes Park side.  I was hoping to see moose again, but this time with some antlers.  

I had read that Estes Park is for those looking for a little more hustle and bustle and Grand Lake is for those looking for something more low-key.  That is a great way to describe it and hand’s down, I’m more of a Grand Lake person.  I arrived on Sunday evening, hoping a weekday post labor day  stay would avoid the crowds.  There was quite a bit of traffic and people everywhere.   Way more packed and crowded than my trip to Grand Lake.   I was immediately worried about the crowds I would encounter at Rocky Mountain National Park.   If the city was this crowded, I expected the park to be crazy.

 

storm rolling in

Lucky for me, I like to go to the park early and later in the evenings, when I have a better chance of spotting and watching the wildlife.   This did help avoid some of the crowds.  Just about the time, I was leaving the park in the morning, the crowds were coming in.  It was still quite crowded when I returned in the evening, but luckily the park is quite large so no one particular area was too crowded.   Well that is, unless some sort of wildlife was spotted.   You could usually tell something had been spotted by the crowds standing in the road, cameras up.  This is not a judgement, as I was in the park for the same reason.   But the crowds sometimes made it difficult to watch the wildlife safely.  

Now maybe Grand Lake is just as crowded this time of year, but when I come back to RMN Park again, I’ll choose Grand Lake.